CHANGE IN APPROACH 

The Phillies are in need of seeing some improvement in Realmuto’s offense, with his team dropping to 6 games back on Atlanta in the standings. He doesn’t need to return to his Silver Slugger production to have a positive impact offensively for the Phillies down the stretch, consideration should be given to his overall approach as well as minor adjustments to his approach, setup and swing. The overall goal will be to see an increase in contact rate, barrel % and OPS. Simple changes could look like the below: 

• Plan - simply, look to swing more, swing earlier in count, look for FB with C/RF gap  approach 

• Adjust - increase width of set up to be more athletic, control load and forward move and reduce sway 

• Swing - maintain better posture to allow for better coverage at the top of zone and the corners, impact with ball deeper in zone for CF/RF approach   

• Cage - mix use of long heavy bat, short bat & game bat, open & closed off set setup with drills that promote and focus on posture. Use of a variable mix of high fastballs and breaking balls with the various implements to challenge velocity up in zone e.g. heavy bat, and with curve balls- short bat to challenge posture. 

The above plan with stance drills can be easily incorporated into cage work, while the bat mix can be worked into on field BP as well as the cage. Stance drills will be beneficial for JT to control his load and forward move; additionally feel a connection to what is the best setup for attacking FB’s and place him in best position to see the ball while ensuring his A swing is achieved more often.